There's
a common question- Do you have a strong or a weak logo?
Whilst a dancer may ask himself, “I wonder what Michael Jackson would think of my dance moves?” or a designer would ask himself, “what would Paul Rand think of my dance moves”?
A well-known & veteran graphic designer & art director is Paul Rand, who quite famous for designing the corporate logos, including the logos of Steve Job's NeXT, UPS, IBM, Inc., etc.
Well, when Steve Job hired him for designing the NeXT computers logo, then he paid him 100,000 dollars. Steve Job asked him if he would come up with a few options, and Paul Rand said, “No, I will solve your problem for you & you will pay me. You don't have to use the solution. If you want options, go & talk to other people”.
After that, Paul Rand came up with a 100-page brochure detailing the brand, including the precise angle used for the logo as well as a new company name.
According to Paul Rand, the logo design is-
“The
foremost role of a logo is to identify its simplicity. Its
effectiveness that depends on adaptability, visibility, memorability
& timelessness”.
Well,
Paul Rand followed seven steps in order to measure the logo, as in:
- Is it distinctive?
- Is it Visible?
- Is it adaptable?
- Is it memorable?
- Is it universal?
- Is it timeless?
Once
you have done with all the above 6 steps, then ask yourself the final
question- is it simple?
#1
Distinctive
When
it comes to “Distinctive” that means unique &
different from every logos. It must stand out from the crowd. This is
something that is not easily confused by others. In short, simple+
understandable.
For
instance, old Bing uses youthful & lively color, i.e blue and
80% of all logos are blue. But when we talk about “typography”
then it says- openness & breadth that are good for search engines
as like Google uses that.
The
logo of bing is having no artwork as compared to their rivals. It
embraces a lot of words to convey its meaning, but there is nothing
appealing & unique about the words. The letters use a lot of
white space in the background, and still the letters seem to merge
together, especially the base of “I”.
We'll
give 3/10 to the logo of “bing” for its uniqueness.
#2
Visibility
When
it comes to “visibility” that means easily seen or noticeable,
due to the reason that the logo of “bing” is having a generous
amount of space & it's visibility is quite high! You can notice,
most of the designers use usually black & white in their logo
while creating the logo for optimal visibility. But the deep yellow
dot on “I” is lost when the logo is put in black & white.
Make sure that the logo looks good in black & white.
We'll
give 6/10 for visibility.
#3
Adaptable
“Adaptability”
that means that it works across a variety of applications as in- on
T-shirts, cups, on a truck or a road sign. We hope that you got the
idea what does we mean about adaptability.
Bing's
logo scores 5/10 for adaptability.
#4
Memorable
The
logo should be something that is unforgettable. If the person feels
the need of your business, then your logo comes to mind immediately.
The logo of Bing is flat & full of lackness of emotions- that
make it difficult to remember.
We'll
give 2/10 due to it is difficult to remember.
#5
Universal
The
universal logo carries a consistent meaning & this is probably
the most difficult part in creating a logo due to the reason is that-
everyone is different. Well, Google uses color, whereas Apple uses a
staple- neutral color & worldwide fruit.
When
we talk about bing logo, it needs to reveal the power & deepness,
but not at the cost of approachability.
We'll
give 4/10 for the universal concept.
#6
Timeless
While
crafting a timeless logo, one of the biggest principles to remember
is to use the hottest colors, coolest styles & showy fonts. It is
pivotal to find out the core of your design. Trim off the additional
decoration part. The thing that can work is “minimalism” that
means saying more by saying less. The Bing logo seems quite good by
avoiding flashiness & short term sparkle.
We'll
give 6/10 to bing's logo.
What
About “Is It Simple” Statement?
Paul
Rand once said, “A logo cannot survive unless it is designed with
the utmost simplicity & restraint”.
In
Paul-Rand-Logo-Test, it is pivotal to add & create stand out
qualities in your design, therefore, it is unique, memorable, durable
and so on. The last step is all about stripping out & eliminating
addition details in order to reveal a pure & playful end-product.
Hence,
simplicity is the king among all qualities we mentioned above. Well,
a highly creative & unique logo may lose points due to the reason
is that- it is unique & creative at the expense of “simplicity”.
The Paul-Rand-Logo-Test can apply in order to create any logo.
And
now, it is your chance to try it & tally your score. Do you have
a strong or a weak logo? Share with us!
